Kaye Phelps, left, congratulates Adham Schirg, right, for being named as the new superintendent of the Fairbanks School District. Schirg attended Monday night’s board of education meeting to talk to community members. He will take over Aug. 1, and will replace Bob Humble, who left to take a superintendent position in Sidney last year.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Jacob Runnels)
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Adham Schirg, Fairbanks School District’s new superintendent, greeted the school community by attending its board of education meeting Monday night.
Schirg, of Sunbury, was one of 30 applicants who sought the superintendent position after Bob Humble left last year to accept the superintendent’s position in Sidney.
Schirg has been the principal of Phoenix Middle School and Worthington Academy since 2015. He takes over the district Aug. 1, with 15 transitional days between now and then.
“It’s very humbling, to say the very least, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” Schirg said. “I’ve always seen servant leadership as a key component to being an educator and a leader.”
Schirg said he “looks forward to learning and building relationships throughout our entire school community.”
He said he intends to reside within the school district. He said his transition to the community has been mostly great for his wife, Mary, and three daughters. However, he said it’s been a little rough his sixth-grade daughter, as she has to leave her friends behind.
“Everybody in the Fairbanks school community has been very welcoming, and there have been lots of offers of connecting her and us with folks in the community in the last couple of weeks,” Schirg said.
He said his daughter is in “a very good place,” as she’s already connected with other children her age and met her principal for the next school year.
Schirg said his first visit to the Fairbanks School District was when he was the head soccer coach in Johnstown more than a decade ago. He said he got to learn a lot about the community back then, and “it always resonated with me.”
“It always intrigued me, and it was a very similar community to Johnstown,” he said. “When I saw the (superintendent) posting, that was something that resonated with me, and I thought I could be a good fit there with who I am as an educator and a person in the community of Fairbanks.”
Schirg said he “intends to be very present” in the community this spring. He said Fairbanks officials will take him on a tour of the Fairbanks community and Tolles Career and Technical Center in March.
“We’re going to be spending time like that and working on events and other opportunities to connect with students, staff, community members and parents between now and the end of the school year,” Schirg said.
He said he’s “very excited” to work with other officials and community members in the school district.